Prognostic significance of leukoaraiosis in intracerebral hemorrhage: A meta-analysis

Background: Patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) have high disability and mortality. Leukoaraiosis refers to the diffuse abnormalities of white matter on neuroimaging, which has been suggested to be with poor outcome in patients with ICH. This meta-analysis was performed to summarize the current evidence on the prognostic significance of leukoaraiosis in ICH patients. Methods: Databases were searched for published studies about leukoaraiosis and prognosis in patients with ICH. Data from eligible studies were extracted. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from each study were combined with DerSimonian Laird method and random effect model for quantitative analysis. Begg's funnel plot was adopted to assess the publication bias. Results: A total of nine studies with 4948 patients were finally included in this meta-analysis. Six studies reported functional outcome, two studies reported mortality, and another study reported both functional outcome and mortality. The meta-analysis showed that leukoaraiosis was significantly associated with worse functional outcome in patients with ICH (OR = 1.40, 95%CI 1.17-1.68, P < .001). In addition, leukoaraiosis was also significantly associated with higher mortality in patients with ICH (OR = 1.59, 95%Cl 1.21-2.08, P = .001). Conclusions: Leukoaraiosis is significantly associated with both worse functional outcome and higher mortality in patients with ICH. Leukoaraiosis can be a useful imaging marker for predicting outcome in patients with ICH.